The Sun. — London, England, 1809-07-22 00:00:00

Jo Lhrt prime mover of tais out rage. The o ,n, the Na , ntin, s c %cried to the Dolphin, its ttcut~~ ; and if I make out that Mr. Cobbett ordered -the Plaintiff to be handeutfed, I- have prryrd case, aid made out every sting, it A.,lett itther. ein he evtdence against Cebbeft. 'The 1'; thus'eonfined m ct:.tody till neit . , 'e again asked try ,w hat authority he was the ata,w . er was—" None, but from Mr. Conoett'i word of mouth;" this certainly lies the Defendant, Cobbett, beyond,all question. Against them, therefore:tin:re is this decisive evidence, that they had, no authority but from Mr. Cobbett's Own word of mouth. The next morning, the mother and son are to be carried before the Magistrate at South amron, and now the scene connects itself with Mr. Cobbett. You will see Mr. Cobbett mixed up in the t i ransaEtioh, and, if you can do it by the law of the land, I conjure you to let all fall on the guilty head of Mr. Cobbett. I will willingly give up these other two Hien. Gentlenitn„when a man of fortune and sense leads other men astray, I can hardly think you "will pass him by, and punish those who have been deluded by hirn. -When a person, having great sWay in his own neighbourhood, who would govern every one near him, is the first to misguide and per suade those persons to a& wrongfully and %iolently, is he not the first objea of punishment ? Then how stands the fia ? As they are on, their way to S-outh ampton, ,Mr. Cobbett, ,comes up with them, and says, am going on to Mr. Smith's house, in French-street, Southampton ; you come on, you will find me there . ; I have no buSiness there, but I shall wait for You." On their arrival at 'Mr. Smith's, the first person they saw in the rooms was Mr. Cobbett. In a few minutes he discoveredhow far he was inte rested in the matter, for observing the.door a hrtle open, he desired Aslett to place himself against the •door, andA not let these people escape, while he went . down to the magistrate : but Mr. Cobbett soon dis co% ered that he was most grossly in the wrobg, for when he returned, he desired that the poor man and old woman might go about their business, provided they brought back the boy to Botley by Monday mot Ding. Now I would ask, by what atithotity Mr. Cobbett took upon himself to discharge' these poor people ? What right had he to'lay down the law in this case? But what follows? The young man observes with mueli humility that be and his mother hada great many miles to get home, and his mother was not 'able to walk. For the sake of human nature, I hope . what is stated to me is not, true ; I can scarcely be lieve that a being so devoid of humanity can exist.— What think, you, Gentlemen, was the reply of Mr. Cobbett 1---" D—n your eyes, you may go, and get home as well.as you can." If he has said this, I think it impoSsible to fill the buShel too full against him. But tl;is is not all ; and .I here throw out the, gauntlet to Mr. Cobbett to bring witnesses to con tradiet the fad, if 'tt be not true. I will prove to you by a servant in his own house, to_whom he ex pressly admitted he was the principal ador in this scene, to whom he said, 4! I have got your mother and eldest brother, I am going to bring them to Southampton ;• I shall - send your brother on ship btiatd, and yoUr mother to Winchester gaol."— What then is my. case,? These persons are taken up on the word of mouth of Mr. Cobbett. Mr, Cobbett is wade a principal in this outrageous transaction : I wish }ion, Gentlemen, to Make a distinction . between , theie parties, and, if pos sible,, to take the burihen off the shoulders of those two men. If you believe Mr. Cobbett was the instigator of this outrage, and if the fads are proved in evidence, you can have no doubt of his guilt. The next question is the quantuin of damages you should ,give this Plaintiff. The misconduct of Aslett and. Dubber, before Cobbett appears in the transaction, was in carrying the mother and son in tht-cari, threatening to handimff him, and at last turning them oux at a late, hour of the night, to find their way, home as well as they could. If you have any ,regard for the civil liberty of the subject, I trust Gentlemen, you Will let Mr,Cobbett know, by your .verdict, what is the value of civil liberty, what price he is to pay for it.' You know how to estimate the blessings of the ConstitutiVeGovernmeht under which w e live. if, Gentlemen, the case is made, out against all these. Defendants, they must make reparation to the Pktir,tiil' for this violent entrap committed upon him, but if you find thn Mr.Cobbett was the founder of these transactions, then let the measure of . your clamages fall as heavy upon his_head,,and as light on those of 41,1 e otlker Defendants. Betty Burgess', sworn and examined by. MN:G-I%s- PLE ' • • • She. said she lives in the parish of Frosford, in the 1 Forest. Her son- Jesse went servant to Mr.,Cobbett lb -Decomber last. 4n the beginning of March he left Mr. Cobbl:tt -'and .carne.horne. - He was taken up by Aslett, from - whom he afterwards ran away. As she'and -her son William were• on their road home, they left„Aslettgoing to Mr. Cobbett's house. Ivey had,proceeded about a mile anda half, when , the ; were 'overtaken by • Aslett and DUbber, who. liolloi.ved 'after- theni, saying,' ." Stop, old Woman — stop,' fellow; we have pistols, and we will shoot you if you - d;,in't stop." Her son William said, " shoot .away." They Oleo...came up, 'w when Aslett seized hini with one -nand by the collar, and beat him with the other ; saying, at the same time, " D—n you, old woman, I bare you and your son still." Her son replied, that. if they should touch his mother he ixould knock them down ;. and seeing two m en _cross the common; Aslett hollowed to them. in the King's natne, and her .son ,was taken into custody. He asked by what authority they-detained intn, and " by order of the word of mouth of Mr. Gibbett." Aslett -rode on in ;earch of the boy ; they met him afterwards, when , he said, " So, dame, you' have dope a pretty job to=day ; yourself will go' t o prison until Jesse is found, and is to your son you will ne - er see him again, we will send him on ship board, unless you bring your little boy An -morrow-4o Botley, by three o'clock: Witness afterwards went to the Dolphin after-her. - son William ; not finding him there, she went to the Cricketers, and told Aslett. she - wanted her son to go home, he said, " you won't have - him, dame, Mr. Cobbett won't let you.".. Aslett's son, came. up leading a sari, she and herson 'William were desired •toi4et- into it and / make haite - Toigo to Southampton, - as Mr. C )4bett would wait for them. As they went 91ting in-the - cart, Mr. Cobbett came up in his gig, and said, " you are gOing to Southatupton„ ASlett, I shan't go with you, I have no business to go with 'you. You drive on to Southampton, ;u Mr. Sinith'3 Otfiet, in French-street, there you will meet ine, wait . for you." When they got to Nit - . Smith's house, she found Mr. Cobbett there, and a young man, a clerk of Mr. Smith's. Mr. Cobbett told Dubber to clap to the door, which was open ,at the time, and stand against it. Mr. Cobbett then look ing at Dubber, said, " you are the worst rogue of them all, John Dubber, you shall be Jack pay for all; I'll fine yoU, John Dubber, d—n me but I will." " I hope not," says Dubber, " I did the best I could." Mr. Cobbett then replied, " D—n you eyes, you let the prisoner. run away from you." Mr. Cobbett staid about half an hour, and then said be would go and see if Mr. Smith, the Magistrate, was :at home. Mr. Cobbett and the young man, Mr. Smith's clerk, then went away together, and Mr. Cobbett said to Aslett, " take care of these 'people while I am gone, I won't stay."' He returned in about ten minutes, or a quarter of an' hour, and then said, " this fellow and the old woman have bee,n guilty of theft, robbery, and fraud, and unless the 'old woman will bring the boy back between four and five o'clock on Monday to my house, there shall be a warrant taken out-to take the old woman and thiS fellow to Winchester." Her son,, William, desired Mr. Cobbett to set them free -as soon as he could, as his mother had walked a great many miles that day, and had a great many more to walk back, and how they were to get home he did not know.' Mr. Cobbett answered, ",D—n your eyes, get home how you can." This was after sunset in the month of March, and they had `thirteen or fourteen miles to get home. It was past eleven o'clock at night before she got home, and her son had a mile farther to go. - Upon her cross-examination by Mr. JEKYL, she said she had seven children ; her son Jesse went to live -with Mr. Cobbett on the 28th of December, and ran away on the 2d of March. She did riot go to Mr. Cobbett's w receive his wages, but Mrs. Cobbett was pleased to give her 11. of his wages to buy things to make him -look smart. He was sixte , n years of age on the 27th June last; she comes of a good fa >Riily; she never received parish relief from . Mr. Goodlad; she went to the workhouse to him, and re ceived five shillings for her husband, who was poorly. When her son was taken, he went to the Dolphin, she went with him there. Aslett read the warrant to her. When Jesse was taken up, she went to Mr. Cobbett, who said he had nothing to do with it. She did not receive a message from -Mr. Cobbett, that if her boy would come home, he would forgive him—no such thinci. The boy did not wish to remain with Mr. Cobbett he was afraid of his authority. She never advised him to run away, but desired him to serve his master. She told this to Mr. Cobbett, and desired him not to abuse him. She went to Mr. Goodlad, a Justice of the Peace, to complain of this business; she also went to the Bench at Roxfield, and told her story there. She had a great deal more to tell than she said that . day. Re-examined by Mr. GASELEE.—When she went before the Justices, they referred her- to ,Mr. Gun ner (her Attorney), who referred her to Mr. Bur roughs (her COunsel), and he now referred her to a Jury of the Country. William Locke sworn and examined. He said he keep:s the Cricketers public-house at "Cradridge-common ; remembered W. Burgess com ing there and remaining four oil five hours; heard W. Burgess say several times that he was willing to go before Mr. GoodJad, the Magistrate ; when the cart catne up, Dubber and Aslett said they would have him down to Botley, to Mr. Cobbett:s. Hi s house was full• of company, and he did not attend to them so much as he otherwise would have done. William Burgess wanted to go home to his wife, but Aslett and Dubber•said they would send him on board- ship ; the tears came into his eyes, and he said he thought it very hard to be sent away for nothing. Abraham Davis, a -servant . at the Dolphin public house, corroborated the greatest - part of the, first wit ness's story, so far as related to the.transadion there ; he spoke to the mother and son being , put into the cart, and Mr. Cob,bett's subsequent conversation. Mary Burgess, sworn and examined : She said she was the daughter of Betty Burgess; lived servant with Mr. Cobbett in March last. On the day her brother went to the 'Dolphin, Aslett came to Mr. Cobbett, who Asked him, had he seen her little brother ? Aslett went away and again re turned, and told her he was going to take her mo ther and brother, as Mr. Cobbett had said' so. Some time after she went into. the parlour, where. Mr. Cobbett and his niece Ann Cobbett were. Mr. Cobbett addressed his conversation to her,and said her little bro ther was gone again, And d—n his eyes but he v.ould be revenged of him. "As to yoUr part (to witness), d —n your eyes ill transport you for knowing that your brother ran away." Witness said she did not know it ; he said she was a liar.•,. He then -said he was going to take her mother and brother to Southampton. He would send her eldest brother to sea, and she should never see him more. Heard him give orders to the cooks to get dinner soon, as he was going to Southa - mpton. WitneSs was - turned away next day. Afterwards went to the. Dolphin. Wished to see mother and brother, but Dubberre fused,. saying, " it is not lawful to allow friends 'to speak to prisoners." David Smith, Clerk to Mr. Smith, - of Southamp. ton, spoke to that part of the transadion which oc curred at his master's house. Mr. JEKYLL, in stating the defence, • observed, that the singularity of a part of this case was beyond any thing fie had before experienced, and part of the evi dence the most extraordinary ever produced. in a pau per cause like this, he said with some surprize, and no less satisfaction, that his Learned Friend (Mr. Gase lee) was to assist his other Learned Friend, who con ducted the cause. Hp was glad to find that this pauper Plaintiff could have such assistance. He called the attention of the Jury. to the chief witnesses, who• were of one, family, and could tell the same story. In the situation in which' they were . placed, •the Defendants could not plead in their own behalf; -they were charged with an offence,- for which re= . cornpence in damages was sought. And this charge .was supported by a mother' and a sister, with the worst dispositions towards their Defendants. It was impossible for him to give an answer by evidence, because the whole was a gebss fabrication ; and this was the reward,, the gratitude he received, in return for all the kindness 7 es he had lavisl.ed upon this un-' ; worthy, ungracious family. . The Learned Counsel then proceeded to comment upon the tenor of 'the evidence against Mr. Cobbett, (which we regret the press of other matter obliges us to omit) from which he contended that.the 'story of the witnesses was incredible. - The escape of the boy was aided by the mother and the Plaintiff, and - therefore he insisted.the Defendant was justified in apprehending them, and there was the strongest evidence that his escape was effetled by .means of the mother. When the Plaintiff was charged with the escape of this boy, he exultingly says, "I have done the pan of a brother, and should do it again ;" he hurled defiance at Mr. Cobbett, and at the laws of his country. To what source, he asked, was he to - impute this aetiOn to the.spleen and malice of this family of the Burgess's, who rewarded beneficence - with ingratitude. But there was another 'source to attribute it to—Mr. CObbett was a public charadter, he was before the public, and like all other public men, he had political enemies ; to them he might impute the bringing this anion ; but be asked any man who lived in Mr. Cubbett's neighbourhood, whether he was that sort of oppressive master ? Those men might have been' ailing under an erra neous judgment—they might have done it through mistake; but from the very nature of the c?se, it was impossible to call witnesses to disprove the evi dence. Under the whole of the circumstances, he was . ' convinced that the Jury would find this no more than any other ordinary or trumpery case, and be trusted the Jury would find a verdid for the De fendant.• k ' The Learned _ Judge (Mr. JUstice LAWRENCE) having summed up the evidence with his usual per spicuity, observed, that with resped to the Plaintiff's title to recover, if he had - been taken up without any lawful authority, then he certainly was en titled to a verdict, 'and satisfaaory damages. The next question then, was, whether these two Defen dants, Aslett and Dubber, had acted under the di- . redionS -of Mr. Cobbett, if so, he was liable.—' With respect to the arrest, whether it was lawful or not, there was no pretence for enquiry, that if a' boy runs away-from his mas(er, he is not to be brought back again ; but this will not justify, these . persons in the way they acted; if there was an attempt made to rescue the boy, the proper 'mode of pro ceeding by indiament should, have been resorted to. He had no doubt in saying that this arrest and im prisonment was without arty authority of law what- . ever; there could be no doubt bUt that they were. guilty of the assault and false imprisonment. The next question was, whether Gobbet was guilty or not ? Mr. Cobbett took upon - himself to aa, and say how he would treat those persons. He N‘;etit to Mr. Smith's, he waited until they came, told his business to the clerk ; in short, he is found the prime mover of the machine. He took upon himself the authori,ty of discharging these people. This stands upon evidence uncontradided. We were told that this was -a fabrication from party motives. He confessed be could not see why it was to be considered a fa bricatidn, and whatever might be Mr. Cobbett's party views or - political pursuits - , he was no more - in that case -than any other private individual) : besides, it was thrown out that Mr. Cobbett might have eontradiaed some material part of this evidence-by calling his niece. Now, if-he could conrradit that evidence, he shoOld have called that young lady. if that be the case, the sole remaining ques tion was -the quantum of damages. It had been said that this was a pauper.Plaiwitf, - but he saw no reason wily the.poor man should not be remunerat ed as well as the rich that, indeed, would be a dan gerous doctrine, which, if it was to hold good, the poor must ever be oppressed by the. rich. ,1. - .le saw nothing in the case which took it out of the ordinary road; it certainly was a case of considerable injury to ;he person, and if the boy behaved ill, that was no reason why the eldest should be imprisoned all 'that time. The Jury should, upon the whole of the case, exercise their own judgment, and give such dainageS . as they think...the plaintiff entitled to.' .The Jury consulted for about two minutes, and then returned a verdia of "fol. damages- for the Vlaintiff. . POLICE. MANSION-HOUSE.—Yestefday,atilashmm,named William Jordan, made araliarge against six of his countrymen; whom. he had selecled from about one hundred of the' same natism,'who, on the evening of Sunday, Or morning of Monday last, had made an attack on the Complainant's house in Wright's buildings, Chick-lane; broken the windows; - • al ,most entirely demolished the house; and wounded himself and several of his lodgers. The Complaifiknt produced a large carving knife, of 2bout, a foot and an half in length, which he had wrested out of tke hand of one of the assailants, aid with which he himself had been Wounded. He' also swore that the shower of brick bats and stones thrown into the house, for the space of upwards of two hours, was such that the life of every person in it, even to the( - children in their -. beds, ,ins'in.the most imminent danger. A veteran, upwaids of six feet high, who had served in Egypt, and had seen much service, declar ed, that though he had been in many severe engage ments, he'never esteemed his life in such imminent danger, as from the shower of stones and brick-bats with .which the Complainant's premises were as sailed. Several other witnesses swore to a similar etteti. • • On the part of Defendants, a witness was adduced to prove, that a sort of challenge had, on the former part of the evening, been held out by the Complain ant •to those whom he now charged with the assault, and that the riot / for which he sought redress, was only an after part of a transaction, in which he him self had been the aggressor. Mr Alderman ATKINS, who sat for the LORD MAYOR, ordered the Defendants to stand committed till they should find bail to take their trial. On Tuesday evening the . once celebrated Crab, of the pugilistic school, paid the debt of nature, atter a very short illneSs, On board a Gravesend boat, on h*:,* retnrn to London. During the last years of his lite lie was a peace officer, under the Chief Marshal_ of London, in which situation he condo6lecl himscif for some time with much propriety, YORKSHIRE SUMMER ASSIZES. The _Assizes for this County - and City were opened at the Castle and at_the Guildhall -on Satutday even ing, before the Hon. Sir ALAN CHANTERS, Km. one of his Majesty's Justices of •the Court of King's 'Bench, and Sir GEORGE WOOD, lint. one of the Barons of the Exchequer, before:whom the follow ing Prisoners in the Castle have taken their trials, 'viz Thomas Oulterson, (aged 26) late of Scarborough, servant, charged with stealing a bay mare out of the stable of William Arrowsniith, of Leyton, in the county - of Durham.—Guilty, Death. Richard Donnison, (aged 32) of Darlington, yeo man, removed by Habeas Corpus from the gaol at Durham, charged with . assaulting Thomas Hall, of Brampton, farmer, on the King's highway, and taking from him three' Ripon and Knaresborough ' bank-notes, half-a-guinea in gold, and 15s. in . silver. --I-Guilty, Death. Samuel Crook, otherwise Shakleton, aged 26 charged on the oath of Jonas Crabtree, of Haworth, in the parish of Bradford, with having broken and . .entered into the dwelling-house of the said Jonas -Crabtree, in the nighttime, and . 6n:filen tberefrom nine pounds and upwards in gold, silver, and cop per, and other articles. Also charged on oath with firing a 7 -loaded pistol at James Wignall, the King's highway, in the parish of Arncliffe, with in tent to murder, wound, and rob him the said James "Wignall.--.Guilty, Death. 'Abraham Fielding, aged 22, of Stanslield, in the parish of Halifax, charged upon oath with having 'uttered to Richard Midgeley, John Sutcliffe, arid •Sarah 'Patchell, three several forged' and counterfeit notes, purporting to be Bank of England Notes, knowing them to be forged and counterfeit.— Guilty. Dubbin, aged 39, charged .upon oath with. stealing a quantity of wearing apparel, the pro perty of - Richard Appleton, innkeeper, Of Stokesley. Guilty. Adam Wasson; aged 40, charged upon the oath of Michael Parker, of Ripon, mercer and draper, with - stealing piece of white muslin, of the value of 20s. out of the shop of the said 'Parker, of Ripon aforesaid.—Guilty. John Wilkinson, aged 26, charged upon the oath of Elizabeth Sykes, with having at the township of Farnley, in the borough of Leeds, violently assault= ed r and with having by force, and against her will, felonioUsly ravished, and carnally known - her..,--•4c quittecl. David Anderson, charged upon oath with' having uttered and paid to Robert Dent two notes, purport.- ingto be notes of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, knowing the same ,to forged and counterfeited.--=Guilty, Death. At the Staffordshire Quarter Sesioni,. a poor girl, who was 'deaf -- mid dumb, i,a swearing her • child, affdrded the Court considerable ainusemeht. She contrived to make uraerstood by ,igns. Alter two.olours elabdrate disquisition during the Bench divided in opinion, the man was dis charged. A young man, of the name of aayton,, of St. Martiu's-lane, has' undertaken, for a considerable wager, to 'pull in a pound weight, at the distant,e of a mile; that is, Ihe weight is to be attached to a siting, a mile in length, and he is to stand stilt and pull it to 'himself. The iiine allowed for chi; singu lar pertbrmance is tWo hums and a hall.—The - odd9 are against him. James Miles, a farmer, residing at Goring,.'near Wallingford, born in the year I 703, ha s ott,,red to back himself for the sum of fifty guineas, to waik fifty miles on the turnOike-road in fifteen tfours : last year he performed a journey of fifty-t wo within: • that time, after baying worked six hours in a hay field; and two years ago he walked 'a mile in fima minutes, for a bet of a gallon of beer ; he lately lived with a cow-kepper near Tottenham-Court-road, as superintendani of the dairy and fat m ; he is a small muscular Man, and, enjoys all his his faeul.ivs—;•about the age of fifty he married a wouaad of forty, who produced him tenAildren. • Mr..l:lo,ve who is attempting to rival Cahtairi Barclay in his late perfolntance, was prosean mg his twelfth day's task on Wednesday in Sx - rl . er,eishire, but betting was ten to one against hiM, and 'it was expected every hour that he would give'inl' Early on Saturday =mitt, Jonn Harris,- alias Harrison, a felon, made, his , escape tro Cl.crken well Prison, so as to 'elude the Nigl!a ce Of the gaoler, and has not been heard of S tit' Nit WS CRAVESPIND, JULY 20. Arrived—the Stemshall. SMitir, from Quebec • R eso i u . 4 ti m, fiilton, from .St. Thomas's; Arm!, frohl Surinam; and the Avery, ILtriis, trot (..:urae )4. iIl k !'t/S. On the ti9th inst. at 13asrking-Hall, Suff,Ak, the kight Hon. Viscountess St. Asaph,' of a ()auAtifer. Lately, at hia .ho'use in ,bans-place , Sloane-street, tite Lady of Captain A. F. Evans, of the Royal Navy, of Daughter. Yesterday, at his house in Stratford- place, the Lady of Robert William Elliston.' E sq. of a pati.oiter. Lately, at Ramithan Mill, near Strontiiiii, Mrs. Donald Cameron, of twins, one behig lir/ twelfth child within these twelve years, nine of -whom were burn at four-births. The mother and children are doinA 4RI( lEL). On 11'londay last., at Aston, near Birmingham, Charles Hency . Parry, M.D.' of Cheltenham, eid;:st st,c, if, 1)r. Par ry, of Bath, to Emma Maly, eldest (Lit:Ozer of Willi2o bedfor4, Esq. of Birches green, Warwickshiie. On Thursday last, G. G. Hewett; Esq. of liarnsay , Huntingdonshire, to Miss Tace Atkins, of. Wormley, Ilertz;. DIED PRICE OF EsT 1/sank-Stock. 261 Naric vei Lent. I !ter Ccnt • 1-97, Irish per Cenr. 4 per Celtt. 84 • 3 pet Cent. Rect j per ::.est. Cons., 08 Bank L. Ann. 18 LONDON : 'Printed by •RICHAIth HARRIS, of No, 4, Mattlett-coltt, Bow-street; and Pti . blislied by WUL LI .1.. Nf A R G R SCRIPPS, South Miton.street, Grosvenor. sq r At the SON-OFFicE, No.. 11 . 2, Strand; where Advertisements, Orders for the Paper„ Letters for the Editor, &c. f.post•paia), must b's 9',l4L:iSed• On the 3d of I WIC, ISCS, Captain loseph•Greensill, of rile I-ton.. Company's Servic, in•the 2Stil year of his age, at Sa dras, ~n the East !tidies.. . . . . 4 k , tew niontlis ago, at Lambspring, in Germany; the Rev: lames .cliairiain, a lienediciiie Monk; fosrmrly 4401unging to the , English Nionastery at 'that place, and tot 4cve.at years Priest at the C:ittiolie Chapel in Whltehaven. TUCKS R tIA Y. India Stock, Bontis, 19S. 17s. ISS , pr. Exeheq. Bills, bs. Izs. Oninium, i pr. Imperial - 3 per Cent. Ditto-Ann. Cons. I.ot Opening, (2i